MLB Awards Watch: The expected arrival of Noah Syndergaard

Baseball is fun.

Arguing about baseball is fun.

That is the simple backdrop of what we will do in this space on a bi-weekly basis, as we take a glance at what the major individual award races look like in the sport. Things will be quite fluid along the way, but even as most of MLB fans take a few months before even beginning to think about awards, we will do the work for you.

Let’s get to the first batch of opinions, beginning with NL Rookie of the Year and moving on from there.

NL Rookie of the Year

1. Trevor Story, SS Colorado Rockies – If you have been paying attention to the sport this season, Story’s name at the top of this list won’t be a surprise to you. Story has cooled off considerably from his hilariously scorching start, but he remains the MLB leader in home runs with eight, and his .855 slugging percentage paints a nice picture. The strikeout rate (39.0%) is comically ugly, but Story’s natural talent is quite real and it’s been a lot of fun in April.
2. Kenta Maeda, SP Los Angeles Dodgers – Maeda isn’t a typical rookie in that he is already 28 years old, but the start to his career with the Dodgers has gone perfectly. In three starts, Maeda has amassed a blistering 0.47 ERA over 19 innings, and while the peripherals don’t exactly back that up in full, it is impossible to ignore that kind of effectiveness to begin his rookie season.
3. Aledmys Diaz, SS St. Louis Cardinals – Diaz wasn’t even supposed to play for the Cardinals this season, but an injury to Jhonny Peralta cleared a path and he has made St. Louis look smart through an 11-game sample. Diaz, somehow, surpasses even Story in fWAR on the strength of his .400/.432/.800 slash line, and even if it is only 37 plate appearances, there is room to be impressed.

Next: AL Rookie of the Year